Wow, what an aroma. Super intense "pine/resin" hops. People often say that an IPA (or APA in this case) has a "piney" aroma and taste, but this one literally smells like a spruce tree or something... in a good way. I've actually had this for a couple months by accident, so I can only imagine how intense it would be when super fresh. Taste is very similar, although a bit toned down so you can tell that it's "just a pale ale" rather than an IPA. Spruce again, with some sweeter nectarine and orange type flavors. Malt presence is very mild but still enough to bring a balance to the blast of hops. Awesome beer, kind of hard to describe, and almost worth trying for the aroma alone. I just keep smelling it. I want more of this.

Very clean and balanced, malt is active in the flavor profile, French bread with a mild buttery/creamy component that sticks near the finish. Hops are spicy and floral following the nose, I get lemon/grapefruit citrus zest and grassy flavors. Finishes with a rich spicy/grassy combination that dries well with bitterness that nips at the palate.

Medium carbonation that lends well to a drinkable body. Alcohol blends nicely with the spicy component of this beer, clean and drying. The flavorful malt impacts the crispness of his beer.

A flavorful pale ale, zesty, spicy and floral. All good things to say about this beer. Black Market still has a trick or two up its sleeve.

Type: 12-oz.canGlass: Can/pint glassFrom: Whole Foods in La Jolla (San Diego), Calif.Price: $9.99 for a 6-packPurchased: April 19, 2014Consumed: April 19, 2014Misc.: Rated everything but the color on a train; rated the color the next day

Poured a caramel, orange, semi-clear color with 2-to-3 fingers of white foamy head. Good foamy lacing along the sides of the glass. Good retention.

This pours with a lovely tall foam in the lanky Peroni lager glass. Color is golden amber tinged with brown. Vast hoppy aroma of mango and cedar. The aromatics seem to change as you sip, but that lovely mix of flowery and spicy is the what makes this such an appealing quaff.

The taste starts with some biscuity malt and just a hint of sweetness. The IBUs are rated at 44, though it seems pretty hoppy to me. It's just not overly bitter, and shades more to the Pale Ale than IPA side. Hops are listed as Columbus, Centenial, Cascade, Zythos, El Dorado, and Mosaic, so it's a nice blend of bitter and aromatic. Some bitter grapefruit but plenty of rich spicy flavors. Dark toast and pineapple-orange.

A highly drinkable lighter style of hoppy brew. It would be interesting to see Black Market try a lower-alcohol version to see if this might still be as tasty closer to four percent. In any case, this is well worth looking for in six-packs of cans. I got mine at the brewery but they seem to distribute around southern California.

Pours a clear orange with a foamy bone head that settles to a film on top of the beer. Foamy swaths of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of malt, citrus fruit, and citrus zest aromas. Taste is much the same with citrus zest flavors on the finish. There is a mild amount of hop bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a lower level of carbonation with a slightly crisp and medium bodied mouthfeel. Overall, this is a good beer that is tasty and easy to drink.

Poured into a Seattle Beer Week pint glass. Pours a medium golden amber with a fizzy two finger white head; so active I thought it was going to fizz out immediately, but actually had great retention and lots of thick lacing. Nice aroma of pineapple and other tropical fruit, orange, citrus hops and sweet bready malt, nice. Flavor follows, dominated by a great variety of citrus, piney and dank hops, mild bready malt, grapefruit and tropical fruit. Medium bodied with mild creaminess. Quite nicely hopped for a pale ale; the hops flavor drops off just at the finish revealing a slight buttery component, but leaves a long lasting citrus hop bitterness. Nicely done and flavorful, a richly hop flavored (but not overly bitter) pale ale that is worth a revisit.